Kenya Guama AA

COUNTRY: Kenya
REGION: Kirinyaga
FARM: Baragwi Co-Op
VARIETY: Batian, SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11
PROCESS: Washed
ELEVATION: 1700-1800 M
CUPPING NOTES: Tangerine, Brown Sugar, Grapefruit    

     Guama Coffee Factory is a processing facility in the Gichugu area of Kirinyaga County.  In Kenya, coffee lots are named after the factory (washing station) where they are processed, so the name Guama also comes from this village.  Kirinyaga County lies on the southern and south-eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. Around two to three hours north of Nairobi by car, it is one of Kenya's leading coffee-growing regions, alongside the neighboring counties of Nyeri and Embu. The soil is a mixture of red volcanic earth and sandy soil, and elevations range from 1,600 to 1,800 meters. Flowering takes place from February to April, with the main crop harvested between October and December.
     Guama Coffee Factory is operated by the Baragwi Farmers Cooperative Society. Registered in 1953, it is one of Kenya's oldest cooperatives, with around 17,000 members and 12 factories.  To maintain consistent quality across its 12 factories, Baragwi FCS rotates managers to a different factory every two years. The cooperative also employs agronomists to advise farmers and distributes compost for fertilizer as well as seedlings.
     Like coffee from many Kenyan factories, Guama's coffee is washed. During harvest, farmers pick only ripe cherries by hand and deliver them to the factory that same day. At reception, underripe and damaged cherries are sorted out by hand. The cherries are then weighed before passing through a pulper to remove the fruit flesh. The coffee, now in parchment, is dry fermented overnight in tanks, then washed the following morning and sorted by density in washing channels.
     Drying takes place on African beds over 8–14 days. At Guama, the coffee is covered with plastic sheeting during the hottest part of the day and at night to protect it from strong sunlight and dew. Consistent drying times may be one of the factors contributing to the clean cup.
     In the cup we find loads of sweet citrus fruits and brown sugar.  If clean bright washed coffees are your thing, this one is not to be missed.  This is our final Kenyan release of this year, and we feel we have saved the best for last!